Everything Worth Mentioning — the second album from Oakland/San Francisco hip-hop duo Meanest Man Contest — comes almost exactly a decade after the group's debut. Following Merit, MMC's 2003 LP release on Plug Research, Noah Blumberg and Eric Steuer ditched the album format, instead dropping dozens of singles, EPs, videos, and remixes through indie labels around the world. The best of those songs (plus a handful of new ones) make up Everything Worth Mentioning, a record influenced by '70s singer-songwriters, '80s pop, '90s indie rock, and hip-hop from across the timeline.

Started as a bedroom recording project in a ramshackle apartment in Santa Barbara, Meanest Man Contest drew influence from its record-digging road trips to thrift stores, garage sales, and dank, creepy basements all over California. MMC's early tracks were typified by dusty drum samples and chopped-up guitars covered in a layer of ambient sound. Over time, the duo's music evolved into a unique blend of hip-hop balladry, synth-pop, and electronic atmospherics.

"Merit, the 2003 debut from California duo Meanest Man Contest, remains an underrated collection of DJ Shadow-indebted instrumental hip-hop that contains a seductive darkness inside its psychedelic tapestries. A decade later, Noah Blumberg and Eric Steuer are back with Everything Worth Mentioning, out October 29th via Gold Robot, and those familiar with Merit might be thrown for a loop by the first single, "In the Dark", which is more tear-stained electro-pop than anything that approaches good ol' boom-bap-- but it still retains the DIY bedroom charm of their older material. "Do you ever think of me in the dark?", dolorous vocals ask as they're stretched across a woozy bed of synths; elsewhere, guitars shimmer like rays of mid-morning light, giving our first taste from Meanest Man Contest's return a bittersweet flavor." - Pitchfork

"Intense isn't an adjective I'd use to describe Everything Worth Mentioning, but it does conjure emotions in a refreshingly understated fashion. One could see how it could unite disparate music communities — bedroom tweakers, synth-pop heads, backpacker hip-hoppers, Beck fans, and anyone with a fondness for overcast pop songs. Steuer said one of the things he appreciated most about hip-hop growing up was its ability to turn you onto different types of music through use of various samples. In that case, Meanest Man Contest fits right into the legacy of hip-hop." - East Bay Express

"This kind of emotional lap-pop that was pretty prevalent in the early 2000s is a great thing to discover again. Meanest Man Contest had an album during that time and are back, and judging by "In the Dark," they haven't lost any of their lustre. It's also got a kind of hip-hop thing going as well as a Sarah Records vibe—a unique combination. I love how the singer asks "do you ever think of me in the dark," hanging on that last word and making it sound as scary and kind of pathetic as it needs to." - Amoeba Music

"Some really nice downtempo, indie electro here from Meanest Man Contest. The description has many different references but to me it definitely reminds me of bands like Her Space Holiday, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Why? or 13 & God. This comes from Gold Robot so you know it’s quality." - Sly Vinyl

"The disapproval stamp of sophomore slump is generally applied to the lackluster follow-up to the debut. In the case of Meanest Man Contest, their sophomore slump comes from taking a decade to record a second full length. Later this month the Bay Area duo will break the slump and release Everything Worth Mentioning on Gold Robot" - IMPOSE (w/ interview)